Arc 3 - Chapter 71: Two Brothers II

(Reverence 6, 59 / 8:09PM)

Continuing to twirl her swords like helicopter blades, she pushed her right arm forward. Straining her bicep to gain an inch forward, the front of her blade was blocked. Embers spewing around them, Luna pulled back her sword, and leaped right.

“Dodge this!”

Throwing her left sword, it continued its twirl until Kenichi swayed it away like a fly. Striking the metallic ground, it thrusted deep, but it gave way for Luna to lunge again. Using only her right baton, she moved it like nun-chucks, making Kenichi use his chains to block each strike.

More embers bursted upon impact, leaving the beginning night to grow in restlessness. Luna took note of this, and clenched her teeth. Sliding to the left, she almost tripped. Keeping herself steady, she reached for her left baton, and dug it deep with nail-screeching pain. Kenichi already lunged toward her, and she extended her twirling batons out to block. More embers sparked within their pupils.

“Gotta move faster old man!”

Without letting him know, her whole body shifted into thin air. All of his back hair rising up, he quickly turned back. In the knick of time, his right arm shot out to defend a blade, to which summoned more orange light.

Like a bullet, he shot out his left arm, to which Luna side-stepped right. Sliding back her foot, she pulled back both of her swords. Without extending his arms back, Kenichi kept them near his thighs, while having a vein sprout from his temple. He slashed the air with them, but even Luna knew and detailed the precise moments to which he threw. She jumped back, and noticed the chains of his chainsaws…

‘They look dull already.’ As soon as she stopped sliding, he decided to play the defensive. Stopping her slide, she centered all of her strength within her right foot. Feeling her own lips crust, feeling them flake from the heat, she bit her upper lip, and lunged at Kenichi. ‘I could break them.’

It was a ballad both of them summoned. Metal scraped off iron, and iron littered the metal below. The early night welcomed the pulsating of sparks. Her bones felt cold, felt shriveled in a heap of stress, which made her push up a smirk.

“Tired already?”

She leaped left with the chain grazing near her hair. If she was a millisecond too late, her ear would’ve been cleaved off.

Both resumed, both fought with metal ringing in their ears. Red littered beneath her scleras, and her muscles began to weaken the more he thrust. Each small gust of wind, each burst of energy, drained the general core of her bones. Yet even so, it gave her the momentum to push further.

‘He’s close. He’s really close. I could break him, I could do it.’

Continuing to slam her blades into the chainsaws, she hissed air out of her lips. Like steam from a teapot, it whistled subtly and quietly compared to the loudening of chainsaws. It wasn’t long before she jumped back, leaving her to thump her boots against a wall. Widening her eyes, she—

Vanished once again. That vein only grew in size, leaving him to turn his body rather quickly. Blocking a blade at the last second, the strength she carried was the equivalent to a shotgun blast. Sending him to slide a few inches back, he was at the edge of the railing.

‘I could… break him.’ She felt her whole body on the verge of exploding. Groaning, sweating, shivering, she wrestled saliva out of her lips by mere strain. Her eyes sulking in a deep hideous red, she twirled her batons once more; and aimed right at his throat.

—“Enough.”—

She couldn’t breathe.

Right as her blade reached his neck, it was only an inch away from slicing. Gurgling, gasping for air, the grip on her batons only tightened. Hearing the metal of her blades creak, she glared with red eyes. Knowing it was that same power, that same curse that turned the tides of battle; she couldn’t growl.

“You may be strong, but unfortunately for you…”

Having his swords low to his waist, he began to turn Luna, so that she dangled right on the edge of the train. Her eyeballs on the verge of rolling back, her gasps only softened, yet the grip on her swords remained.

“Your powers are nothing to mine.”

Unable to pry out, her fingers lost the strength to set herself free. Kenichi darkened his eyes the longer he listened. He—

His knees slammed hard to the ground. Ringing cultivated his eardrums, and his head was burdened with swelling. Feeling it dig deep into his brain, he had no other choice but to squeeze his eyes shut. Along with his curse, it evaporated instantly, leaving the dangling woman to finally burst in much needed air.

But she fell. With one hand extended, she grappled it with her baton digging into her palm.

‘Shit!’

Both of her feet nearly kissed the track. Her vision still blurred, her muscles still soaring with exhaustion, she could barely see let alone pulsate with vibrant shoulders.

“Listen to me Kenny!”

Her hands gripped hard on the handle of her frying pan. Having spikes on the front of it, she stood with both her heels gripping the floor. Kenichi’s face remained unchanged, leaving his eyes to darken what was in front of him.

“Come back to us! There’s still redemption!”

Both of his chainsaws quaked, as the strength he pulsated them in worsened. Smoke still releasing from his chains, embers continued to spazz into the early night.

“I’ve told you many times before…”

His back hunched forward, and he began shivering. Keeping all that was supposed to be hidden, keeping it all in his stomach, it boiled and gnawed endlessly and rapidly. Hissing air through his lips, he made Jenny aim her pan at him.

“I don’t know you.”

Jenny’s eyes widened, as wind and air were pushed by an invisible force. Lunging to the right, all of her instincts roared within herself. Her breath thawed and flowed like pumps, leaving her eyes to dilate like a cat-human.

“How did you dodge them? They’re supposed to be… forget it.” His eyes and cheeks scrunched, once he saw the monolid woman lunge forward. Biting down on her own set of teeth, her whole pan shook hard. Her eyes, white and pure with constraining anger, made Kenichi take a step back. “Fine, if you don’t want to admit it.”

Pulling back her frying pan, Jenny slid her right foot back, and inhaled air through her mouth. Concentrated on breathing, she also bent her body 90 degrees, leaving Kenichi to raise both swords.

“I’ll make you.”

She thrusted forward. Her pan, which was light to the touch, gathered the wind like a bowl. The weight equivalent to a literal anvil, she nonetheless thrust her pan toward his face.

Right where his blades were. The spikes hammering onto the chains, it bursted out air like a gunshot. Their ears rang, while the spikes jumped against the pulsating chains. She had her boots dug deep, and had her arms vibrating with strength.

‘What the hell is she?’

Using his left chainsaw, he slid it down, and thrusted it up with the flick of his wrist. She blocked the sudden strike, all with the frying pan that clashed out light. Sparkles of iron littered the ground, but it only pushed Jenny to use her pan like a hammer.

All of his bones stressed under the sudden thrusts. Feeling it sour his muscles, the blood in his body felt static.

‘Was she really hiding all this strength?’

He began walking back.

Every slam, every swish from the edge of the pan, it whistled the air like a coach’s whistle. His body tightened with each collision, leaving a single line of sweat to run down his cheek. Making him walk to the center of the train cart, he couldn’t find an opening.

‘Guess I have no choice.’

Pushing all of his body weight on his toes, he arched his entire body back. Lunging forward, the bottom of his boots grazed against the metallic floor. Both of his chainsaws still grizzled out smoke, while eyeing the monolid woman.

Jenny had her pan out in front, and she saw him close eyes. Making a little zig-zag path, Jenny waited, counted even, all too strike when the iron was hot.

—‘Obscure Intervention.’—

She was sent back. Gasping out saliva from her mouth, it creased the front ends of her lips and chin. Feeling it glue like paint, it wasn’t long before she sprawled on the ground. Her knuckles resting on the floor, she breathed harshly.

Arching her head up, the bottom of Kenichi’s jackets flapped. From out of his back… two chainsaws were pulled out.

‘Huh?’

Already having chainsaws in both hands, two extras hung in the air. Rev after rev, small traces of smoke fluttered from the engines… before roaring to life. Her face paled, and her mouth hung out. Gripping the metal pan with all she had, she stared at the curse he was granted with.

“Now we’re even.” Two chainsaws floated above him, while two were near his thighs. He looked like a spider, with embers sparkling around him like shattered glass. She began walking back, her heels finally loosened from the glued metal. “If you don’t want to die, I won’t kill you. But I can’t let you go.”

The handle of her pan only tightened, only increased with so much unrestrained strength. Her breathing began to fasten, and her whole body—

He blocked a blade.

Metal glittering from the chains, Kenichi turned his sights onto the woman to the left. Making his skin ripple, he continued to stare at her with dark eyes, eyes that held a multitude of conviction. Moving his chainsaws, he clicked his tongue, and sent them down like guillotines. Which made Luna slide toward Jenny.

“Get a goddamn grip! It's two against one!”

“But…”

“Just shut up and fight! You know what happens if we lose! It’s us or him!”

Continuing to twirl her blades, they sharpened around the air while keeping her attention on Kenichi. He was still, but his invisible arms hovered even higher than before, although the two women saw those hovering chainsaws. She spread both of her arms out wide, and soared all her fingers deep in the metal.

“And besides, I’ve trained tooth and nail to defeat this bastard. This is the only chance that I’m getting…”